Tablets Microsoft Sells Out of $500 Surface RT Pre-Orders in One Day

[Vegastouch]

That's not the point, the iPad 16GB Retina costs $499 and the iPad 2 (similar screen of Surface RT) costs $399 for the 16GB version.

What makes you think people are willing to NOT get what's popular? Remember, the average citizen gets what is popular. Microsoft is late to the game, but I do want them to succeed so the marketplace gets a bit more vibrant.

I think MS has a dud on their hands.

What makes you think they will? Not everyone cares about a retina display and you said it wouldnt be a game changer because it didnt have a retina display.

The screens on the Surface RT are 720p so they will look very good as well. Windows is popular and has been for a long time and they are putting out new things so i have no doubt they will sell well and apparently that is happening.

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I'm kind of surprised that people are preordering the Surface RT when there is very little that is known about the OS, what programs it will ship with, and what apps will be available at launch date, what developers are working on content for the Surface, and if the ecosystem will be comparable to Android or iOS.

I got burned on the Zune HD. Hopefully history wont repeat itself, and the Surface wont flop because it lacks content.

That is a valid point but there are videos out there to see how the OS will work and it is very interesting. It will take some getting used to since it is going to be different from typical Windows but it does some really good things.

I know Apple people dont like change and a learning curve(not all but many) but if you do, these will be good devices.

 

[NT1440]

I am hoping quite a few will still do this

I dont mind the new interface as an app launcher, but I dont like the look of the new style apps

My thoughts exactly. I feel like the new UI lends itself to huge text in titles and headers and way too skinny text everywhere else .

 

[pesos]

I ordered one plus touch cover and type cover (sold the 3rd gen ipad last week).

Will get a pro when it comes out, but the RT should be good for basic RDP and Citrix testing, and to see what MS is doing ActiveSync-wise and with SCCM management.

Most people here don't have a friggin clue when it comes to what is and isn't going to do well in the enterprise.

 

[Dr McKay]

I ordered one plus touch cover and type cover (sold the 3rd gen ipad last week).

Will get a pro when it comes out, but the RT should be good for basic RDP and Citrix testing, and to see what MS is doing ActiveSync-wise and with SCCM management.

Most people here don't have a friggin clue when it comes to what is and isn't going to do well in the enterprise.

Of course, RT isn't intended for Enterprise, its intended for people who want a simple device to check email, Facebook and play Angry Birds. Enterprise will opt for the Pro tablet.

 

[pesos]

Of course, RT isn't intended for Enterprise, its intended for people who want a simple device to check email, Facebook and play Angry Birds. Enterprise will opt for the Pro tablet.

Actually your statement isn't really correct and is the same misinformation getting spread around these forums and elsewhere... There *is* a place for the RT in the enterprise. It will run all the packaged apps that the Pro and other Win8 computers and Win8 smartphones will run, so it will be every bit as viable in many scenarios - the Pro is only necessary for legacy Windoze apps. Add to that RDP/citrix and App-V scenarios and the lower-cost RT makes a lot of sense over the Pro depending on the need.

 

[MRU]

Actually your statement isn't really correct and is the same misinformation getting spread around these forums and elsewhere... There *is* a place for the RT in the enterprise. It will run all the packaged apps that the Pro and other Win8 computers and Win8 smartphones will run, so it will be every bit as viable in many scenarios - the Pro is only necessary for legacy Windoze apps. Add to that RDP/citrix and App-V scenarios and the lower-cost RT makes a lot of sense over the Pro depending on the need.

RT has no support for outlook, no support for Microsoft system centre configuration manager, businesses that use this software to setup devices will have to re-invest in intune a seperate software for windows mobile devices.

The version of Office included is not for commercial or business use, and you will have to buy a full Office 2013 licence to use it legally. .

No support for Active Directory either.


If business does get behind Windows 8 in tablet devices, i imagine it will be for the atom based models which don't cost that much different to the windows RT devices (yet still cost considerably more than old netbooks they are replacing)

 

[pesos]

RT has no support for outlook, no support for Microsoft system centre configuration manager, businesses that use this software to setup devices will have to re-invest in intune a seperate software for windows mobile devices.

The version of Office included is not for commercial or business use, and you will have to buy a full Office 2013 licence to use it legally. .

No support for Active Directory either.

SCCM 2012 will manage RT. Activesync-capable mail/calendar/contacts in place of outlook, as on the phone version. Word/excel/PowerPoint are full versions. None of this differs from what you will see on win8 smartphones.

 

[tech4all]

1. $499 Surface does not have a hi-res (retina) display.
2. App store is not as big as the iOS store.
3. Does not have the Apple momentum.

Is this all iFanBoys think about? I've compared the iPad 2 and iPad 3; yea the iPad screen is very nice, but it's NOT a deal breaker for your typical person. To them it's just a gimmick. Why? Because they probably aren't going to notice the difference unless you show them side-by-side.

These are the same people who though the iPhone 4S was the iPhone 5 when shown on Jim Kimmel. Bet you if you were to show them an iPad 2 and say it was had a retina display (explaining that it means high res), they would think it was.

So what's my point? My point is that the Retina Display, while nice, I'm not dissing it, is a gimmick to non tech geeks.

What makes you think people are willing to NOT get what's popular? Remember, the average citizen gets what is popular. Microsoft is late to the game, but I do want them to succeed so the marketplace gets a bit more vibrant.

You're right. And that's why Apple is making billions. Put their logo on it and people will buy it. The iPhone 5 was a lame update compared to what's out there. But people think it's the best thing ever.

Here's proof. That is why Apple is making money; they've made people into zombies who will all things with the on it. They think it's best thing ever when in reality it's not so much the case.

I enjoy Apple products, but I'm not going to deny that the one's from whom Apple makes the real money from are buying the product 'just because.'

Also the Android store is HORRIBLE.

PUH LEEZE ... You provide no explanation to your criticism. In fact your accusation is laughable at best. I have plenty of apps from the Play Store and they work just fine. The store is easy to navigate. No it's not as vast at the App Store nor are the apps as polished (so I've heard), but it's hardly "HORRIBLE" as you claim it to be.

btw it's called the Play Store. If you're going to criticize do it properly.

 

[MRU]

SCCM 2012 will manage RT. Activesync-capable mail/calendar/contacts in place of outlook, as on the phone version. Word/excel/PowerPoint are full versions. None of this differs from what you will see on win8 smartphones.

Yes but windows 7/8 smartphones are hardly setting corporate world alight.

Word / Excel / PowerPoint are NOT full featured.. They lack support for VBA & Macros for a start, something very important in business documents (especially excel) and there are quite a lot of other features missing from regular Office.

What Office Home & Student 2013 features are unavailable in Office Home & Student 2013 RT?

Across multiple applications
Macros, Add-Ins, Forms, and Custom Programs (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
In other versions of Office you or a software developer can use tools such as Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to write and run macros and other custom programs in Office. VBA is not available for the applications in Office Home & Student 2013 RT.

To use macros, add-ins, forms with custom code, or other custom programs in Office documents, you need a version of Office other than Office Home & Student 2013 RT on a computer or tablet not powered by Windows RT. Other versions of Office cannot be installed on Windows RT devices. For example, Office Home & Student 2013 and Office Professional 2013 support these features but cannot be installed on Windows RT devices.
If you already use macros, add-ins, InfoPath forms with custom programs, or other custom programs in your PC or Mac version of Office, you will not be able to use them in Office Home & Student 2013 RT.


Send Email Features (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote)
Your Windows RT tablet does not support Outlook or other desktop email applications such as Mozilla Thunderbird or Opera. Due to this, certain email features available for Office documents in other Office versions are not supported in Office Home & Student 2013 RT:
"Send as … (attachment)" features in the Office Backstage view
Word mail merge features related to email
Sending email links to share slides using the PowerPoint Broadcast Slide Show button on the Slide Show tab
OneNote email share options and email-related options in the Tools/Options menu
Many email-related buttons in the Office Ribbon and Quick Assist Toolbar
Instead, you can open your Windows RT email app or use another email app that may be available from the Windows Store, manually create an email message and attach your document to it.
SkyDrive Sync Integration (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Office Home & Student 2013 RT does not support automatic synchronization between personal SkyDrive documents and your local disk. Instead, you can access SkyDrive through the Office Backstage view and use the Open or Save commands to open or save your documents.
Equation Editor 3.0 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

Office Home & Student 2013 RT does not support editing equations written with Equation Editor, which was used in older versions of Office. You’ll still be able to view equations written with Equation Editor, but you cannot edit them. An improved feature to make it easier to write and edit equations was introduced in Office 2007 and is included in Office Home & Student 2013 RT. You can find it in the Insert toolbar under Symbols.

Lync File Download
Microsoft Lync is not included on Windows RT devices. As a result the “Allow Lync File Download” command is disabled and files/attachments from Lync meetings cannot be downloaded into OneNote. To use the Lync File Download feature, you need Office 365 Small Business Premium, a version of Office that includes the Lync application on a computer or tablet not powered by Windows RT. Other versions of Office cannot be installed on Windows RT devices.

Word only
Grammar checking for certain language versions of Office
The grammar checking /style checking feature in Word 2013 RT is available for the following languages only: English, French, German, Spanish, Arabic, Danish, Italian, Norwegian Bokmal, Portuguese – Brazilian, Russian, Japanese, Chinese – Simplified, Chinese –Traditional and Korean. Spell checking and other proofing components are available for more languages.
Grammar / style checkers for some of these languages were not ready in time for the preview edition, but will be included in the final edition of Word 2013 RT.

Excel only
Data Models
Excel 2013 RT does not support creating a Data Model. You can create traditional PivotTables, QueryTables and Pivot Charts. To create a Data Model, use a version of Office other than Office Home & Student 2013 RT on a computer or tablet not powered by Windows RT. Other versions of Office cannot be installed on Windows RT devices. For example, Office Home & Student 2013 and Office Professional 2013 support this feature but cannot be installed on Windows RT devices.

PowerPoint only
Slide Library ActiveX Control
PowerPoint 2013 RT does not support the SharePoint Slide Library toolbar for slide library related actions (insert/upload/etc.) Instead, you can use the Slide Reuse pane, which you can find at Home Tab -> New Slide -> Reuse Slides.

Legacy Media Formats in PowerPoint
PowerPoint 2013 RT does not support certain legacy media formats. These older formats will not play, transcode, compress, or be included when exporting a presentation to video. It is likely that other applications on Windows RT devices will be unable to support these legacy media formats.
Instead of using legacy media formats, you should use modern media formats such as H.264 and Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), which PowerPoint 2013 RT supports. You can convert to modern media formats through the Optimize for Compatibility feature found in the Backstage view of PowerPoint 2010 or non-RT versions of
PowerPoint 2013.
PowerPoint Flash Video Playback
In PowerPoint 2013 RT you will not be able to insert or play back videos from online sites that use video designed for the Adobe Flash Player.
Recording Narrations
You will not be able to use the Record Narrations feature in PowerPoint 2013 RT.

OneNote only
Audio and video recording
Recording audio/video notes from inside OneNote 2013 RT is not supported. Instead, you can record audio or video with other software, then insert it through Insert → File to add onto the OneNote page.
Import through scanner
Importing a printed document or picture into OneNote 2013 RT through an attached scanner is not supported. Instead, you can scan images through another program (for example, the default scanning app in Windows RT or another scanning app you download from the Windows Store), then import the images into OneNote.
Audio & video search
Searching for words appearing in an embedded audio or video file is not supported in OneNote 2013 RT.

 

[pesos]

Yes but windows 7/8 smartphones are hardly setting corporate world alight.

Word / Excel / PowerPoint are NOT full featured.. They lack support for VBA & Macros for a start, something very important in business documents (especially excel) and there are quite a lot of other features missing from regular Office.

Win8 phones aren't out yet genius. Neither is win8 except for those of us with vl/msdn/technet etc. You're right I can't believe ms hasn't taken over the enterprise with their unreleased products yet :/

As far as office goes now you are changing your statement. I didn't say anything about full feature parity, I was responding to your odd statement that claimed RT users would have to purchase some special separate license in order to use their business docs, which is wrong and absurd.

 

[MRU]

Win8 phones aren't out yet genius.
.

Which is why I said Windows phone 7/8 genius..

You wanna pick up your rattle now ?

As far as office goes now you are changing your statement. I didn't say anything about full feature parity, I was responding to your odd statement that claimed RT users would have to purchase some special separate license in order to use their business docs, which is wrong and absurd.

I'm changing my statement ?

You said....

Word/excel/PowerPoint are full versions.

I responded that they were not full versions.



Further more....

I was responding to your odd statement that claimed RT users would have to purchase some special separate license in order to use their business docs, which is wrong and absurd

Office RT is not licensed for commercial or business use. Business/Commercial users must get a full version of Office 2013 (office 365 or similar) licence to legally license the software for commercial use. That's a fact, and not a statement.

When Foley contacted Microsoft, she received the following statement:

While Office Home & Student 2013 RT Preview and the final edition are not designed for commercial, nonprofit, or revenue-generating activities as sold, organizations do have options for using the applications commercially – including purchasing commercial use rights or licensing any edition of the new Office with commercial use rights.

 

[pesos]

Which is why I said Windows phone 7/8 genius..

You wanna pick up your rattle now ?




I'm changing my statement ?

You said....



I responded that they were not full versions.



Further more....



Office RT is not licensed for commercial or business use. Business/Commercial users must get a full version of Office 2013 (office 365 or similar) licence to legally license the software for commercial use. That's a fact, and not a statement.

Image

Win phone 7 is not part of the ecosystem (for better or for worse) so I didn't see it as relevant. As for office I misunderstood you as the enterprise scenarios I am thinking of would have these devices fully covered by VLA, much like people using their own personal laptops etc...

 

[ReallyBigFeet]

You're right. And that's why Apple is making billions. Put their logo on it and people will buy it. The iPhone 5 was a lame update compared to what's out there. But people think it's the best thing ever.

By several (not all) technical assessments in the industry, the iPhone 5 represents far more than a "lame update compared to what's out there." In fact, by most accounts, this "lame update" equates to better performance than that shown by the most popular Android-powered handsets (SG3, for example).

I'd say its rather simple-minded to think that millions of Apple consumers buy the product just because of a logo. While I don't doubt that's true for some % of the market, I'd say the same could be said for an equal % of the population that REFUSES to buy something because of a logo...the anti-crowd if you will.

When you eliminate the extremes on both sides, you are left with a core population that buys a phone based on a) how it looks/feels, b) how it suits their personal use case (and use case can be something as simple as personal style or something as complex as 'best specs') and c) word of mouth recommendations. Price and availability may also be influencing factors but those are pretty much at parity now regardless of which device is chosen.

You have stated that you find the iPhone 5 lame compared to everything else. It would have failed your "personal use case." That's fine, but your personal use case is not a better measure than someone else's personal use case. It is, however, this mental view of "the world is just like me" that likely equates to why Apple is so overwhelmingly popular. They design things for a world that thinks like them and, has been statistically proven, the world overwhelmingly IS just like the way they think.

Which really puts you as the odd man out here.

Of course, as most of the thinking population already knows, iPhone users are older, wiser, better educated and make more money than their Android counterparts.

 

[Doc750]

so I bought one today and so far its pretty cool, but I couldn't get my work outlook to work on it. I kept getting a security error msg. any ideas?

 

[spinedoc77]

Is this all iFanBoys think about? I've compared the iPad 2 and iPad 3; yea the iPad screen is very nice, but it's NOT a deal breaker for your typical person. To them it's just a gimmick. Why? Because they probably aren't going to notice the difference unless you show them side-by-side.

These are the same people who though the iPhone 4S was the iPhone 5 when shown on Jim Kimmel. Bet you if you were to show them an iPad 2 and say it was had a retina display (explaining that it means high res), they would think it was.

So what's my point? My point is that the Retina Display, while nice, I'm not dissing it, is a gimmick to non tech geeks.



You're right. And that's why Apple is making billions. Put their logo on it and people will buy it. The iPhone 5 was a lame update compared to what's out there. But people think it's the best thing ever.

Here's proof. That is why Apple is making money; they've made people into zombies who will all things with the on it. They think it's best thing ever when in reality it's not so much the case.

I enjoy Apple products, but I'm not going to deny that the one's from whom Apple makes the real money from are buying the product 'just because.'




PUH LEEZE ... You provide no explanation to your criticism. In fact your accusation is laughable at best. I have plenty of apps from the Play Store and they work just fine. The store is easy to navigate. No it's not as vast at the App Store nor are the apps as polished (so I've heard), but it's hardly "HORRIBLE" as you claim it to be.

btw it's called the Play Store. If you're going to criticize do it properly.

I have to say there IS a difference in screen resolution. I did not want to believe that as I am a self admitted Microsoft fanboy and am heavily rooting for Microsoft to be successful with their tablets. I'm also one of those who can't tell much of a difference between a retina and a non retina display except in text quality, otherwise they look the same.

I have an ipad3, ipad2, and a Samsung Win8 pro tablet. The Win8 tablets text looks markedly more jagged than the ipad3's. Is it unreadable? No of course not, it's perfectly readable and acceptable, BUT it doesn't look nearly as nice as the ipad 3's. It's not a deal breaker, but it certainly is one of the reasons pushing me to consider an ivy bridge tablet with the higher resolution and better CPU/GPU.

 

[Doc750]

So after spending two day trying to get Microsoft outlook to work on a Microsoft tablet, I'm giving up and taking it back. Ive done everything i could think of to get this to work, from googling myself, calling support to stopping by the MS kiosk again for assistance, to no avail.

It's crap like this that makes its so difficult to leave apple. I just don't get how MS can release hardware that doesn't even support it's own basic email software.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I'm intrigued. Any device that can make me dance like that is one I'd like to try for I cannot dance. At all.

 

[pesos]

So after spending two day trying to get Microsoft outlook to work on a Microsoft tablet, I'm giving up and taking it back. Ive done everything i could think of to get this to work, from googling myself, calling support to stopping by the MS kiosk again for assistance, to no avail.

It's crap like this that makes its so difficult to leave apple. I just don't get how MS can release hardware that doesn't even support it's own basic email software.

Umm the Surface RT doesn't have outlook, nor can it run it. Outlook only runs on x86 platforms.

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so I bought one today and so far its pretty cool, but I couldn't get my work outlook to work on it. I kept getting a security error msg. any ideas?

Assuming you mean getting your work email, not outlook. You didn't specify the error message so it is impossible to try to help. I can assure you Exchange works great; I have 4 different Activesync accounts configured on my Surface from 3 different Exchange servers. Either your settings are wrong or your IT folks at work need to fix something on their end...

 

[Night Spring]

So after spending two day trying to get Microsoft outlook to work on a Microsoft tablet, I'm giving up and taking it back. Ive done everything i could think of to get this to work, from googling myself, calling support to stopping by the MS kiosk again for assistance, to no avail.

It's crap like this that makes its so difficult to leave apple. I just don't get how MS can release hardware that doesn't even support it's own basic email software.

As pesos says, Outlook doesn't work on Surface RT, but I thought it came with an email client app that you are supposed to use instead of Outlook.

 

[Doc750]

The error msg I am recieving states " This mail server requires Exchange ActiveSync policies that this PC can't enforce.

I tried setting up the email through both options 1) Outlook as well as 2) other acount - Exchange Activesync. I did of course add in all information correctly (email addy, Server address, domain, user name and password).

I spoke with Microsoft surface support this morning and they were unable to resolve the issue and referred me to my IT dept. But I know the response from there will be "sorry we don't support this device"

Umm the Surface RT doesn't have outlook, nor can it run it. Outlook only runs on x86 platforms.

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Assuming you mean getting your work email, not outlook. You didn't specify the error message so it is impossible to try to help. I can assure you Exchange works great; I have 4 different Activesync accounts configured on my Surface from 3 different Exchange servers. Either your settings are wrong or your IT folks at work need to fix something on their end...

As pesos says, Outlook doesn't work on Surface RT, but I thought it came with an email client app that you are supposed to use instead of Outlook.